The Medallion novel Chapter 9

In an instant, Rocky was struck by intense pain radiating from his arms. It was as if a beast was biting his flesh ferociously. Overwhelmed with the pain, he couldn't stop himself and knelt on the ground. The color of his face began to turn pale. His body broke out into a cold sweat, and his face showed the agony.

All the people were astonished because the Holy Dragon Bead responded to Rocky. But soon they pointed their fingers in his direction and commented on the odd scene before them. They were convinced that what Rocky was going through was the kiss of death. In a few hundred years that had passed, no one—even if he was extremely preeminent—had successfully fused with the Holy Dragon Bead. Since so many strong men had failed, there was no chance for Rocky. After all, he was only an abandoned prince.

Therefore, all the people just stood still and made no attempt to hold Rocky back. They looked with cold and shocked eyes as Rocky was devoured by the power of the Holy Dragon Bead.

Even Priest Dean, who saved the last boy, stood unmoved. He kept looking at Rocky with disdain. It was clear that he had no intention to help Rocky.

Lena couldn't stand it anymore. She was concerned and began to run towards Rocky. Suddenly a deep voice called out to her, "Lena, leave him alone."

Hearing those words, Lena could not stop herself from looking back. It was the emperor of the Holy Dragon Empire, the father of the owner of Rocky's body. No one thought that the father would stand still and watch his son die.

"But, Basil's body is unable to bear the power of the Holy Dragon Bead. He will die if it goes on like this," Lena expressed her thoughts to the emperor.

"The fool is supposed to have died earlier. It's really a mistake to keep him alive. He is a disgrace to our royal family." At this point, a sneering sound burst out.

"Crown Prince Alston." Lena called out after looking towards the source of that sound and finding that it was Alston.

The handsome man was Alston, Basil's brother. Being the son of the empress of the Holy Dragon Empire, he would succeed to the throne to be the emperor of the Holy Dragon Empire in the future.

Though Alston and Basil were related by blood, Alston was aloof and cold towards his brother. His eyes revealed his hatred for Rocky. He always looked down upon Rocky as the one who brought shame to the royal family.

"Your Majesty..." Lena turned to the emperor of the Holy Dragon Empire. Anger flashed across her eyes.

However, the emperor of the Holy Dragon Empire gave no response to her pleas. He kept looking impassively at Rocky, who had knelt on the ground and writhed in suffering and pain.

Rocky felt that his limbs had gone numb as though they were frozen because of the sharp pain. He had no control on himself, it was as if the body was not his own. However, he could hear strange cries. Those seemed to be cries likely to come from an over-fussy baby. Though he didn't understand what was happening, he knew it for certain that his pain had something to do with the cries.

Rocky calmed himself down. Then he tried to interpret the cries and comfort the baby. Though he was not very good at it, he had gained rich experience when he got along with animals as an animal geneticist. He knew that sometimes things could be conveyed through other ways instead of speaking. Like the usual exchange of expressions between humans and animals, it was fulfilled through movements and eye contact.

Thus, Rocky started to imagine that he was stroking a crying baby. Gradually, the cries faded away. Meanwhile, it appeared that the stroking had a sense of reality, which was a sort of fantastic sensation beyond description.

As he kept doing it and the cries faded, Rocky noticed that the pain along his arms began to wear off. All of a sudden, there was relief and peace was restored all around. But a bright light band was still around his arms. The light band grew brighter and brighter. He felt a light burning sensation on the skin as if something was being imprinted with a hot seal. He sensed that his arms were being injected with a certain power. Soon the arms began to swell. The power was too much for him and he felt that his arms were going to burst with that power and pressure.

Suddenly, a turbid light was released around Rocky's body, which converged as a vortex above his head. In the chaos, a shadow of a dragon with six wings showed up. Instantly, the light glared like the scorching sun. All the people present there were overwhelmed by the formidable pressure. It began suffocating them. The Grand Dragon Hall shook because of the effect of the amazing power. The people were astonished at the sight before their eyes.

On the circular platform, the messenger of the Dragon Master Clan, which used to look on indifferently, couldn't stop himself from trembling violently with a surprised expression evident on his face. He uttered a few weird words and hastily disappeared from the circular platform.

While the people were watching it all in surprise, the profound light and the formidable pressure vanished like an illusion. When their eyes rested upon Rocky again, it was like a bolt from the blue for them. Their eyes were wide open because they were surprised to find him safe and sound.

When Rocky got back on his feet, the Holy Dragon Bead had disappeared. Seeing the stunned royal members and nobles staring in his direction with an awkward silence, he stood up in bewilderment and looked around. He found it strange that everyone's eyes were fixed on him as if he was a monster.

He looked down at his arms and found some Dragon Spirit Marks, just like the ones he had seen on other people, though they were not as obvious compared to the others. If not looked carefully, they could easily be ignored or missed. Besides, the aura it carried was also very weak.